Flowers in a Quimper Pitcher — Canvas

Daisies and blue cornflowers crowd the mouth of an earthenware jug, their white petals lit from one side. Flowers in a Quimper Pitcher gives a still life the looseness of a sketch made in a single afternoon. Glackens loads the brush and lets each blossom stay distinct, none blended into mush. The faience pitcher itself carries Breton decoration, a curling blue pattern over cream glaze, its handle thick and slightly uneven the way hand thrown pottery always is. Stems cross at odd angles inside the water line, and the shadows fall warm rather than grey, olive and rose pooling on the table beneath. Loose, buttery strokes push the background into a soft haze of green and ochre so the bouquet reads almost three dimensional. A sunlit kitchen, a breakfast nook, or a window side reading chair would suit it well.